Razor blade magazines



June 1956 G. SZEKELY RAZOR BLADE MAGAZINES Filed Dec. 27, 1951 InventorUnited States Patent RAZOR BLADE MAGAZINES George Szekely, Tel Aviv,Israel Application December 27, 1951, Serial No. 263,543

4 Claims. (Cl. 221 -229) The present invention relates to a magazinefor. safety razor blades which ejects and presentsthe bladesto the userfor complete withdrawal of one blade at a time.

Although magazines of this type should be filled by the manufactureranddelivered to the consumer as a complete package so as to guarantee'theperfect condition of the delicate blades, the fact must also be takeninto consideration that many consumers use a blade two or more times andwish to return it to the magazine after use.

In designing a magazine of the type referred to the following furtherconsiderations must beborne in mind: The magazine should dispense oneblade at a time only. The withdrawalshouldbe. easy. During storage inthe magazine and while being slid out of:it, the blades must not touchanything with their delicate cuttingedges. lest these be spoiled.Magazines should be closed allaround and be presented to the purchaseras a closed packageinto which' no moisture can penetrate.

As far as possible, the contact of the blades with moist fingers shouldbe avoided, human fingers being. always moist.

When withdrawing a blade the likelihood or contingency of' cutting'thewithdrawing finger. must be. positively excluded.

There are known magazines of the type referred to which hold the bladesin a stack wherein the blades are in alternately staggered relation, andfrom which they are ejected alternately from opposite ends of themagazine.

There is no doubt that the known magazines of this type are quitesuitable, although not all above requirements are met, but the staggeredarrangement of the stack unduly increases the length of the magazine.Moreover the magazines of this type cannot be opened and freshly loadedby a consumer, should he so wish. Finally the known magazines presentcertain difficulties in manufacturing them. These articles are usuallymade from plastics, and it is known that the moulds for this manufacturerepresent a considerable investment. Now the known magazines requirequite complicated moulds. Thus in designing the magazine according tothe present invention, attention has been paid to this particular point.A magazine according to the present application can be moulded inrelatively simple and inexpensive moulds. It is therefore the object ofthe present invention to provide a blade magazine of inexpensive andsimple construction.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a magazine which isnot substantially longer than a razor blade.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a mag azine which canbe delivered by the manufacturer as a sealed package, but which permits,once the seal is broken, the withdrawal and reinsertion of a blade.

The invention will now be described with reference to the annexeddrawing showing the new magazine:

In Fig. 1 in a lateral elevational section,

In Fig. 2 in a top view, with cover removed,

ice

Fig; 3. is=a:'like:view' of 'a slightly modified construction, whileFigs 3a: shows :in a fractional side view a detail of a constructionexemplified by Fig.3.

Fig.4 is ai side'view, in section of theconstruction'aecording to Figs;land 2, a blade beingjust ejected.

The magazineis formed by a flat rectangular boxl, substantially of thesize of a razor blade. This-box'has' two head. walls-arear one 1 and afront one 1 A slidingcoverl'is provided on the box, abutting againstwall 1.'..

Onv the bottom; of. the box and extending centrally lengthwiseis a rib3'with a sloping upper edge. Its highest point isnear wall-I1 whereits'distance from thecover of the box is equal to the thickness of ablade. A flat spring 4 is placed on the'bottom of the box. This springhasacentral slot through which rib 3 emerges. A stack of :blades isplaced in= the'box, their central longitudinal slots beingengaged by therib 3.

On thelowenside of cover 2 are arranged at its end normally near wall 1.two wedge-shaped studsS, while two-like studsfiare provided at theopposite end.

Wall 1" is lower than the. other walls of the box; Thus a gap or slot 7is createdbetween the upper edge of wall 1" and cover 2. The edge ofwall 1" is rounded towards'etheiinsideof the box. Two notches 8 areprovided'on theupper'edge'of wall 1'', permitting the wedgestopass-when' the'cover isslid out. The function of the magazine. in the.ejection of blades will be understood fromithe following: and. from aglance atxFigs. 1, land- 4... The=spring14 urges'thewhole stack upwardsagainst the cover.2.3. All bladesare'secured againstlateraldisplacementrby:beingheldlon rib 3. Only the uppermost blade: isclearJOfathe .rib 3, butis in frictional contactwithstheaunderlyingistack'from .below and with the cover from-,aboves.The.cover 2. is now slid forab'out half its length in thetdirection. ofthe. arrow A. Wedges 5 will enga-gezwitlr theirioblique faces the freevuppermost blade marked Land push it .out 10f thercontainer 1. Thebl-adepasses out through slot 7 and its passage is positively aided by theedge of the slot being rounded against the oncoming blade, thusfacilitating its passage.

Now the blade I which by now has assumed the position shown in Fig. 4can be drawn off the underside of the cover 2, by hand, passing smoothlyover the wedge faces of studs 6.

As soon as the blade I is withdrawn, the next one in the stack markedII, takes its place, urged by spring 4 against the underside of cover 2.

It will be clear to everyone skilled in the art that although a fairmeasure of correctness of the dimensions can be attained in manufactureof articles from plastics, it might nevertheless happen that while bladeI is slid out, blade II is taken along as well for a short distanceuntil it is stopped by rib 3, being held thereon. This distance varieswith the length of the longitudinal slot in the blades of differentmakes. So blade II will have been moved out of its proper place and thismight cause an undesirable effect; it could perhaps be ejected togetherwith blade III. To avoid this I have provided studs 6. When after theejection of blade I the cover 2 is slid back into its normal position,the oblique faces of studs 6 will push blade II back into its place ontop of the stack. Fig. 4 shows just this possibility. Blade I has beenslid out so far that it can be drawn off, and blade II has been slightlydisplaced. This will obviously be corrected in the way described whenthe cover is slid back into the position shown in Fig. 1.

When a blade slides out it glides with its elongated unsharpened endportion over the rib 3; it is clear that the friction between the bladeend and the top of the rib has a certain braking effect. In order toeliminate this and facilitate the movement of the blade, rib 3 issloping,

as explained above. Thus the distance between its top on its wayonwards.

Rib 3 can be shaped to fit exactly into a longitudinal slot of specificshape. Thus it could be assured that only blades of a specific make areused in the magazine.

In Figs. 1, 2 and 4 the blade positioning means have been shown as acentral rib. In lieu of this there could be arranged four studs 9,rising from the bottom of the receptacle 1 and extending from its endwall 1 and 1", as shown in Fig. 3. These studs are positioned to lie inthe notched corners of the blades and keep the unsharpened end portionsof the blades between them. To be sure, these positioning means can beused only with blades having notched corners. The studs 6 for correctingthe proper order of the blades in the stack, if this has been disturbed,would come to lie at the places indicated in Fig. 3.

Fig. 3 shows yet another possible variation which may be combined withone or the other blade positioning means. In lieu of studs 5 shown inFig. 1, one such stud 15 could be provided on the underside of cover 2near the front end of the blade, engaging with its wedge face the frontof the longitudinal central slot. The relative position of studs 15 and6 is shown in Fig. 3a. If stud 15 is provided, a corresponding notch 19must be made in wall 1", to permit the passage of the stud.

What I claim is:

1. In a magazine for dispensing razor blades having blade locatingedges, said magazine comprising bottom, front, rear and side wallportions to define a compartment, 21 top closure for said compartment,means within said compartment for locating and maintaining a stack ofblades therein in substantially vertical registration with the shavingedges thereof parallel to and spaced from the adjacent side wallportions, and including yieldable means beneath the stack for elevatingit to engage the topmost blade of the stack with the inner face of thetop closure, said front wall portion having a blade dischargingpassageway aligned substantially with the topmost blade of the elevatedstack and of a height about that of the blade thickness, the combinationhaving at the rear of said top closure on its inner face engaging meansfor the rear end portion of the topmost blade comprising depending wedgeshaped studs having oblique wedge faces each forming an obtuse angle tothe inner face of the closure turned toward the blade dischargingpassageway to project said oblique wedge faces in the leading positionin engagement with the topmost blade, said studs having the peak portionthereof extending for a distance greater than the thickness of a bladefor advancing the topmost blade through the passageway, the walldefining said passageway faced toward the leading edges of said studsbeing rounded.

2. A magazine for safety razor blades in accordance with claim 1 whereinsaid closure is provided adjacent the leading edge thereof withcomplementary depending wedge shaped studs having oblique faces directedtoward the middle of the container.

3. A magazine in accordance with claim 1 wherein said bottom includesupstanding means to hold the stack in a position spacing the cuttingedges clear from the side walls, the upper edge of said upstanding meansbeing spaced below said closure by at least the thickness of a blade.

4. A magazine in accordance with claim 1 wherein said bottom includesupstanding means to hold the stack in a position spacing the cuttingedges clear from the side Walls, the upper edge of said upstanding meansbeing spaced below said closure by the thickness of a blade adjacent therear wall portion, said upstanding means decreasing in height towardpassageway.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,092,067 Marx Mar. 31, 1914 2,352,113 Muros June 20, 1944 2,431,523Tuerfi et al Nov. 25, 1947 2,502,248 Colton et al Mar. 28, 19502,514,161 Nelson July 4, 1950 2,562,513 Schnitzler July 31, 19512,567,230 Muros Sept. 11, 1951 2,589,722 Mead Mar. 18, 1952 2,613,806Testi Oct. 14, 1952

